Local quilter sews for cancer patients
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Quilting has been a lifelong hobby for Lee Priest, and when it came time to reduce her fabric supply, she decided to put her talent to work to serve others. In recent months, Lee has donated six quilts to the Tracy Hibbard Kasprzak Cancer Treatment Center at Northern Light Mayo Hospital to help oncology patients stay warm during and after treatment.
Priest recognized that warm quilts could do a world of good for patients when her husband Will began receiving treatment at the center for a non-cancer-related health issue. Though her husband isn’t being treated for cancer, Lee realized that the patients at the center who are going through cancer treatment could really benefit from the quilts.
“I was making quilts for Project Linus, and when my husband started going to the center to have blood drawn, I thought ‘oh, they could use quilts here, too.’”
QUILTS FOR PATIENTS — From left, Peggy Cookson-Fogg, medical assistant Northern Light Cancer Care, Will Priest, and Lee Priest. Lee Priest has donated six quilts for patients at the Tracy Hibbard Kasprzak Cancer Treatment Center at Northern Light Mayo Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft.
The quilts have been embraced and appreciated by patients, says Denise Scuderi, RN, vice president of Nursing and Patient Care Services at Mayo Hospital.
“When being treated for cancer, sometimes a warm blanket can make all the difference,” she says. “We’ve kept some in the clinic, and some have been given to patients who could benefit from having a nice quilt at home.”
For Priest, donating quilts is a simple way to turn something that she enjoys doing into a gesture that can help someone in need.
“I think it’s great because you never know when you will end up at the center,” says Priest. “If you can make it easier for somebody who is going through treatment, why wouldn’t you do it?”